Chargers can kiss playoffs goodbye

Any thought of the Chargers making the playoffs ended at
Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday afternoon with their 23-21 loss to the
Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins didn't officially seal the Chargers' fate, but they
came pretty close to turning the Bolts into the Titanic seeking an
iceberg.

In order to stay in contention, the Chargers (8-5) have a
Herculean task the next three weeks when they play at undefeated
Indianapolis, at Kansas City and home against AFC West leader
Denver.

The Colts are one of the greatest teams in recent history and
the Chiefs have won 17 straight home games in December. The Broncos
are playing their best football in years.

Duke Cunningham has a better chance of getting reinstated to
Congress than the Chargers do of winning all three games.

For you die-hard Bolt fans, let's suppose the Chargers through
some sort of miracle win those games. It still doesn't guarantee
them a spot in the playoffs.

That's because both Jacksonville (9-4) and Pittsburgh (8-5) are
ahead of them in the wild-card race and have softer schedules from
here on out. Pittsburgh is ahead of the Chargers based on their
24-22 triumph this season.

"When we sit back and look at this game, we are going to kick
ourselves," Chargers linebacker Donnie Edwards said.

"There are some games in the past, games against Denver, Dallas
and Pittsburgh, that come up and bite us right now."

Edwards was referring to the team's sins in September, a 28-24
season-opening loss to Dallas when general manager A.J. Smith
refused to let All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates play. A week later,
they absorbed a 20-17 loss in Denver when the club blew a 14-3
halftime lead.

In all, the five losses have come by a combined 14 points.

Their lack of effort against Miami is perplexing when you
consider the Chargers had so much more to play for.

The Chargers were clearly not a team focused on the task at
hand.

"At the end of the day everybody had a hand in this loss, and
it's disappointing as hell," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer
said.

Quarterback Drew Brees was sacked three times, and running back
LaDainian Tomlinson, who has a bruised chest, managed only 75 yards
on 21 carries. The defense made Dolphins journeyman quarterback Gus
Frerotte (229 yards passing) look like an all-star.

The Chargers insist they were not looking ahead to Indianapolis,
but they didn't play that way.

"For me, I was not thinking about Indianapolis. I could care
less about them," Tomlinson said. "It's not like we are in a race
for (No. 1) and (No. 2). I mean, they are undefeated and we are not
anywhere close to them."

But they certainly didn't take the Dolphins seriously,
either.

Jamal Williams, the Chargers' fine nose tackle, echoed that
thought.

"One of the top five rules of football is never take anyone for
granted," Williams said.

I don't know what the other four rules are, but Williams has
that one right.